Starship Cherry Cream

Chris the Hitch Hiker's Guide writer visits Vella Crean

After organizing everyone else's trips, Chris decided that maybe he ought to rest up and think about what might happen to him on Vella Crean. It was another Nexus place, meaning that they could reach it with no trouble at all like Pelar and Ryslen. Why he hadn't really given any thought to his own potential as a dragon bonder he really didn't know.

He was attractive, more so than Troy he thought. But he was also smart, and stable - while the rest of the crew was in fact pretty smart he was the only one other than Ian to get any work done on a regular basis.

After leaving Earth the hard way - via boarding a visiting Bug Eyed Monster's ship that had come to do some kind of anal probing mission (which he did not participate in, fortunately) - Chris was dropped off at what the BEMs determined to be the best place for him: Ursa Minor Beta, the home of MegaDoDo publications, and the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

He was given a job almost immediately. He was charming, and sensible, and he could actually talk sense while everything around him was chaotic. The editors of the Guide certainly admired that feature.

So he was packed up with the equipment he needed (a satchel with his clothing, a working-copy of the Guide, an electronic Thumb, a Babel Fish, his Towel, assorted foods and goodies, and some money which was good darn near anywhere) and sent on his way.

It wasn't more than two years before he ran into the Starship Cherry Cream crew. They were apparently from one pocket universe or another - in his version of Earth, they certainly hadn't developed stardrives like theirs, so he knew they had to have been sent through some kind of warp to get here.

He never had the heart to tell them that even though they were on hire to some corporation, that corporate entity didn't even exist in this universe they'd found themselves in. So he let them think it was all spy-novel and danger-girlish if they were to slink around collecting data without telling their bosses.

Their bosses probably didn't much miss this bunch.

But he would - and Chris mulled that over as he headed up the hill into Vella Crean's entrance. He knew the sands were almost full, and that was encouraging to him. Maybe he'd be able to bond first! That would certainly surprise some of the guys on Caledrus, wouldn't it?

He quietly entered, and filled out the forms necessary to stand on the sands. Woodstock assured him that though he didn't go through normal channels, anyone like him (a hitch hiker? a nice guy? what?) would be able to bond a dragon there and probably bond well.

Whether he'd be making any triumphant entrances or whatever, as per expectations by the group, he'd have to wait and see. Chris merely hoped that if he bonded, it would be to an appropriately quiet, smart and sensible dragon.

And if not, he'd become the raging pest that he'd always wanted to be... Kind of like Troy, only with a purpose in life...

***

The short amount of time Chris spent at Vella Crean was filled with activity. He studied up on the dragons, how to treat injuries and such, but also he watched how Naeodin was training her daughter Maramia. She'd surely be taking over the duties of a weyrwoman sooner or later.

After a while, the hatching was announced with happy bugles by dragons everywhere around the place. Everyone rushed out to the dunes and waited. There were two queens' eggs on the sands, so they'd been sort of separated out. With almost angry twitching, the eggs began to hatch one after another.

A pale blue hatched first, then another, and a pale green went next. Each of them paired off soon enough. Another white-green hatched, and then more eggs from the other side of the sands began to break.

A beautiful creamy yellow, then a cream who bonded quickly. A cheesecake colored hatchling elicited some laughter from the audience - but Chris was busy recording all this and didn't have time to giggle. A very pretty red-cream colored hatchling broke shell and bonded, then left three others on the sands. Yellow-grey, bright red, and silvery blue.

There were no other eggs that had been shown off, had there? Chris took this in stride. He felt it kind of odd, because he was so certain he'd bond at this clutch. Well, maybe soon enough he'd have another chance.

What, now you want two of us? I mean, am I not enough for you? Don't you like me? I'm Heniuth, you know, and I'm sure you'll be able to handle me fine... Spoke a dragon mind directly into Chris'. He looked down and saw a smaller sized red dragonet. Smiling, he said, "Yeah, you're good enough for me."

That's MY line you know...

They were perfect for one another. Now came the long, exhausting part - raising a dragon!

As time went on, and Chris sent a couple recorded messages to the crew at Caledrus, his dragonet grew into an adolescent. Heniuth lived up to his red skinned appearance. He was pretty sharp witted, and Chris sometimes allowed him to do all the talking.

Just sometimes, all they both wanted to do was relax by the lake. When one day someone came wandering by with a basket, they generously offered a small package to Chris. Heniuth came up to sniff at it, but he was sure it contained nothing he wanted.

"I'm sure it's not all that bad, Heni. Let's open it, okay?"

I would rather you not.

"Well, that's too bad, isn't it." Chris said with a smirk. "You haven't learned to fly away yet, so you'll have to stick around for the moment." Chris unwrapped the smallish warm package. Warm?!

"It's an egg!" Chris said, happily. "I wonder what's in it? I wonder if it's a little gryph or a flitter or what!"

I hope it's not, Heniuth muttered mentally.

"Humbug," Chris said. "Let's get back to the den. I want to make sure we've got enough food for it when it hatches. And I wonder what the guys back at the Guide will have to say when I come back with you and a flitter?"

Heniuth was about to say something nasty about having to compete for attention but he knew perfectly well that Chris would never forsake him in favor of some little flit.

The egg finally broke open about a day later, and showed off a lovely golden nose. It looked so much like the sunset or dawn breaking over Vella Crean's peaks that Chris decided to name her Sunbreak. She chirped loudly and the flew to the half-sleeping Heniuth. She landed on his horns, balancing on them until he shook her off. She landed on her back, wings flailing.

What is this... Ah. That thing hatched.

"Yes, it did. Her name's --"

Sunbreak, I know. You can't help but think that can you.

"I guess I can't." Chris said, scooping up the little gold and giving her a few pieces of meat which she eagerly gobbled up. She saved the last one, grasping it in her little paws, and then flew it over to Heniuth. She offered it to him.

The dragon gazed at it, and then shifted his gaze to Chris. Does she expect me to eat this?

"I think you should - you don't want her to get angry. I know what you're like, imagine being a queen..." Chris laughed as the dragon attempted to pick up the little morsel with his tongue.

***

Heniuth swept into the ship with a huge flourish of energy. They were the first to bond, and the first to return to Caledrus. There was more than enough room for them all, but the dragons would shortly be taking up quite a bit of the flight zone space.

It is crowded in the Nexus too, but you do not hear me complaining about it...

"Hey," Chris laughed, "I could do a writeup on the nexus for my next entry to the Guide!"

I will help! And Sunbreak will too, of course, because she helps with ... everything. Heniuth's sarcasm started making the golden flitter angry but she calmed soon enough when the other local ship folk started giving her attention. Chris went off to write, and Heniuth was left with the job of explaining where he'd come from.